Feed means for plumbers&#39; tool



Dec. 21, 1965 R. G. HUNT FEED MEANS FOR PLUMBERS' TOOL 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 23, 1964 w Mam INVENTOR. 205527 4 HUNT 0% vQA/W ATTORNEY$ United States Patent 3,224,024 FEED MEANS FQR PLUMBERS TOOL Robert G. Hunt, Los Angeles, Calif., assignor to Marco Products Company, Los Angeles, Calif., a firm Filed Mar. 23, 1964, Ser. No. 353,906 7 Claims. (Cl. 15-1043) This invention has to do generally with plumbers tools used for cleaning and removing obstructions from drain pipes and utlizing an elongated member in the form of a coiled spring wire, known as a plumbers snake, which is advanced through the pipe and rotated. More particularly the invention relates to the provision of a feed means for the snake in a plumbers tool embodying power means for rotating the snake.

Spring-type plumbers snakes are ordinarily housed in a drum or container having a conoidal wall through which the snake is fed and retracted axially of itself as the container is rotated to cause rotation of the snake. In conventional tools having power-operated snake advancing and retracting means, this usually includes a jaw in the form of a segmented nut, or the like, through which the snake is fed by rotating it so that, in effect, the snake is threaded through the jaw. Since the jaw is stationary, the rate of feed of the snake is entirely dependent upon its speed of rotation. In view of this it is a primary object of my invention to provide a new and improved means which automatically feeds the snake at a faster rate of speed than is achieved with conventional jaws for any given rotation speed of the snake. More particularly it is an object to provide a novel form of jaw embodying one or more rotatable helically grooved feed rollers engageable by the snake and rotated thereby in a direction opposite to the direction of rotation of the snake whereby the snake is fed at a faster rate of speed than is possible with conventional aws.

Conventional tools having power drive means for advancing the snake are usually expensive, cumbersome, heavy, and have a relatively low safety factor. The latter often results in breakage of the snake, since no adequate means is provided for releasing the driving torque from the snake when the snake hits an obstruction which stops its forward movement.

It is therefore a further object of the invention to provide a novel, low-cost, lightweight feed means which is relatively simple in design and can be readily attached to tools presently on the market, and which is so constructed that the snake will not be damaged in the event of the sudden stoppage of its axial movement. In this connection it is an object to provide such a means which can be readily engaged or disengaged by the operator with very little eifort and without any particular skill.

These and other objects will be apparent from the drawings and the following description. Referring to the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view, partly in section, of a tool with the device of the invention mounted thereon;

FIG. 2 is a central longitudinal view through the forward portion of the tool and the device of the invention, but on a larger scale;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view on line 33 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to the left-hand portion of FIG. 2, but showing the parts in a diflerent position;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view on line 5-5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5, but showing a modification;

FIG. 7 is a cross sectional view on line 7-7 of FIG. 6; and

FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 5, but showing the modification of FIG. 6.

More particularly describing the invention, numeral 11 generally designates a plumbers tool having a motor 12 including a handle 13 and a switch-operating trigger 14, and a casing 15. The latter is adapted to contain the plumbers snake 16 which is formed of a relatively tightly coiled spring wire 17. The casing and motor are mounted in any conventional manner such that the casing rotates with the motor shaft (not shown) and relative to the motor as a whole and consequently rotates the snake 16 when the motor is operated. Reference is made to United States Letters Patent No. 2,769,191 showing a device of this type.

The casing 15 has a neck portion 18 in which a spindle 20 is fixedly mounted. The latter is journaled within a chuck body 22 by means of a collar 23, these parts being generally cylindrical. The snake passes through the spindle and through an opening 24 in the end wall 25 of member 22. In the tool shown a special chuck collet 26 is provided in conjunction with a ball bearing assembly 27 and a handle 29 for gripping the snake when desired by the operator for the purpose of manipulating it when the motor is not running. The details of this construction, which includes an operative connection between the handle and collar, are not completely shown since they form no part of the present invention and are fully shown and described in the above-mentioned Patent No. 2,769,191.

The device of the present invention, designated generally in FIGS. 1-5 by numeral 30, may be attached to an existing tool such as that shown or may be provided in a tool as originally manufactured. The device includes a cylindrical housing member 32 and an inner body 33 which is partially received therein, the inner body having a flange 34 which abuts the outer end of member 32. The parts are secured together by screws 35. The housing body 32 fits over the outer end portion of the part 22 of the tool and set screws 36 are provided in member 32 for releasably securing the parts together.

The inner body 33, which may be a casting, is formed to provide a cavity or space 37 in which I provide a pair of generally cylindrical laterally spaced feed rollers 40 mounted upon suitable pins 41. Preferably these rollers are slightly larger in diameter than the snake, however this is not essential. Each of the rollers is formed to provide a peripheral helical channel or groove 42 which has the same pitch as that of the wire of the snake and which is so dimensioned as to receive the peripheral portion of the snake. The two feed rollers are so positioned that normally the turns of the snake are not received in the grooved surfaces of the rollers and thus if the snake is rotated, there is no interaction between the rollers and the snake which would advance or retract the snake.

For the purpose of actuating the device to cause the snake to engage the feed rollers and, through its rotation by the motor 12, be caused to be fed axially, I provide a movable element or pressure plate 44 below the snake, which, together with the feed rollers form a jaw means. This plate is mounted on a pair of vertical pins 45 received in bores 46 provided in the inner body 33. Coil compression springs 47 mounted in counterbores 48 and surrounding the pins serve to yieldably hold the member 44 in lowered position against a stop pin 50. An operating lever 52 is received in a slot 53 in member 32, being pivotally mounted upon a pin 54. The upper end 55 of the operating lever is rounded for engagement with the under surface 56 of the pressure plate. When the lever is pivoted in a counterclockwise direction, as viewed in the drawing, member 44 is raised, thereby raising the snake into engagement with the two drive rollers 40. If the snake is rotated by the motor 12, it will then be fed axially through the device so long as the operating lever is held with slight pressure. It will be apparent that the rotating snake will, in turn, drive the feed rollers in a direction opposite to that of the snake, and that, in consequence, the snake is fed at a substantially greater speed than would be the case, were it fed through stationary jaw elements. In the event the snake should encounter an obstacle which would stop its forward progress, the operator can immedaitely release the operating lever to disengage the driving connection between the rollers and the snake.

In FIGS. 6-8 of the drawing I show a modification of the invention wherein I provide a pressure plate 44A shaped to provide a recess 60 in which I mount a pair of smoot-surfaced rollers 62 on pins 63. These rollers are parallel on axes parallel to the axes of the feed rollers and are so sized and positioned as to engage the snake. When the pressure plate 44A is raised the rollers 62 raise the snake into driving relation with the feed rollers 40.

It will be apparent that various changes and modifications can be made in the embodiments of the invention shown without departing from the scope of the invention and, by way of example, the feed rollers may be mounted for movement toward and away from the snake as by mounting them on the pressure plate and providing a stationary abutment on the opposite side of the snake.

I claim:

1. A feed device for a plumbers tool having a helically coiled spring wire plumbers snake and power means for rotating the snake, comprising a body adapted to be attached to the plumbers tool and through which the snake passes, at least one generally cylindrical feed roller mounted in said body for rotation no an axis parallel to the axis of the snake, said roller having a peripheral surface characterized by a helical groove of a size and pitch substantially to mesh with the snake, and means movably mounted in said body adapted to be brought into engagement with said snake in a position and manner such as to move the snake laterally into mesh with said feed roller.

2. The device set forth in claim 1 in which a second feed roller is mounted in laterally spaced relation to the first feed roller.

3. A feed device for a plumbers tool having a helically coiled spring wire plumbers snake and power means for rotating the snake, comprising a body adapted to be attached to the plumbers tool and through which the snake passes, at least one generally cylindrical feed roller mounted in said body for rotation on an axis parallel to the axis of the snake, said roller having a peripheral surface characterized by a helical groove of a size and pitch substantially to mesh with the snake, and operating means for causing relative lateral movement between said feed roller and said snake in a direction to cause the roller and snake to mesh.

4. A feed device for a plumbers tool having a helically coiled spring wire plumbers snake and power means for rotating the snake, comprising a body adapted to be attached to the tool and through which the snake passes, a pair of generally cylindrical feed rollers mounted in said body in laterally spaced relation laterally of the axis of the snake for rotation on axes parallel to the axis of the snake, said rollers each having a helically grooved periphery adapted to mesh with the snake, and means movably mounted in said body adapted to be brought into engagement with said snake in a position and manner to move said snake into mesh with said rollers.

5. The device set forth in claim 4 in which the means for causing said snake to engage said rollers comprises a movable element on the side of said snake opposite to said rollers and an operating member for moving said plate.

6. The device set forth in claim 5 in which said movable plate is provided with a pair of smooth-surfaced rollers for engaging the snake.

7. A feed device for a plumbers tool having a helically coiled spring wire plumbers snake and power means for rotating the snake, comprising a tubular housing adapted to be attached to the tool and through which the snake passes, an inner body mounted in said housing, a pair of generally cylindrical feed rollers mounted in said body in laterally spaced relation laterally of the axis of the snake, said rollers each having a helically grooved periphery adapted to mesh with the snake, a pressure plate on said inner body on the side of the snake opposite to that of the rollers mounted for movement toward and away from said rollers, and an operating lever pivotally mounted in said housing and extending to the exterior thereof, said lever having an inner end portion engageable with said pressure plate whereby pivotal movement of the lever in one direction serves to move said plate toward said rollers to cause said snake to mesh therewith.

No references cited.

CHARLES A. WILLMUTH, Primary Examiner. 

1. A FEED DEVICE FOR A PLUMBERS'' TOOL HAVING A HELICALLY COILED SPRING WIRE PLUMBERS'' SNAKE POWER MEANS FOR ROTATING THE SNAKE, COMPRISING A BODY ADAPTED TO BE ATTACHED TO THE PLUMBERS'' TOOL AND THROUGH WHICH THE SNAKE PASSES, AT LEAST ONE GENERALLY CYLINDRICAL FEED ROLLER MOUNTED IN SAID BODY FOR ROTATION NO AN AXIS PARALLEL TO THE AXIS OF THE SNAKE, SAID ROLLER HAVING A PERIPHERAL SURFACE CHARACTERIZED BY A HELICAL GROOVE OF A SIZE AND PITCH SUBSTANTIALLY TO MESH WITH THE SNAKE, AND MEANS MOVABLE MOUNTED IN SAID BODY ADAPTED TO BE BROUGHT INTO ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID SNAKE IN A POSITION AND MANNER SUCH AS TO MOVE THE SNAKE LATERALLY INTO MESH WITH SAID FEED ROLLER. 